BOOKWORM: 'Street Chronicles' anthology harsh but fun

Just eight hours of work? That would be heaven. As it is, you hit the floor running when the alarm clock goes off and you don’t stop until you flop into bed at night.

An 18-hour workday is more like it for you, but you’re a woman and you can handle it. If you can’t, well, four authors tell you how to do it in the new book “Nikki Turner Presents Street Chronicles: A Woman’s Work.” You’ll learn how to handle things — but you might not like how it goes down.

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All her life, Melissa James wanted nothing more than to be a famous R&B singer. At age 16, she defied her parents, joined an R&B girl band, began sleeping with her boyfriend, and was surprised when Reverend and Mrs. James kicked their disobedient daughter out of the house.

But in “Dying to Be a Star,” by Keisha Starr, Melissa never learns patience or control until the time comes when fame is almost fatal.

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Mama Bev Woods was beloved in her neighborhood. She was an honorary grandmother to many, and mother to Aisha, Kayla and Terry.

So when Mama Bev was beaten to death by three thugs looking for drugs, it was only a matter of time before there’d be revenge — especially since Kayla was a “hood legend” and girlfriend of the man who currently ruled the streets. But in “Money, Stilettos, and Disrespect” by Tysha, the revenge came from an unlikely source.

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Madame C ran her brothel with an iron fist, promising her girls that if they worked hard, she would set them up after they “retired.”

But because gorgeous Abie brought home more money and more new recruits, there was no way she’d be let out of her contract. In “Southern Girls’ Escort Service” by Lakesa Cox, Abie was going to quit The Life, do or die.

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And if your man was unable to run his business, would you run it for him? In “Ms. G-Stacks” by Monique S. Hall, that’s what Taylor Dixon did. And she did it with brains, beauty, and a 9 mm Glock.

Like other books in the Street Chronicles series, hip-hop author Nikki Turner pulled together a few writer gal-pals to create this anthology. When you start it, hang on to your seat — but be warned.

Harsh, raw, nasty, violent, hot as flame, and oh-so-fun, “Street Chronicles: A Woman’s Work” is escapist literature at its finest. But, while the characters here are mostly easy to like (and are surely easy to sympathize with), I thought the violence in this book was sometimes unnecessarily gruesome and possibly stomach-turning. That can tend to distract from the story.

If you can cringe past the brutality of this book, I think you’ll find a good way to spend a couple afternoons. Keep that in mind and “Street Chronicles: A Woman’s Work” will be a dream.

Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was 3 years old, and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.